Kimi The Builder

YAMMAAAATOOOOOO!

Release Date: Feb 2019

Retail Price: MYR RM 50.00* ( USD $ 12.22*)

*The price is subject to change, depending on the situation

Yes, since the MG Grandpa Ver.3.0 was taking a lot longer then I was expecting for it to be, so I thought about taking a bit time off from building the MG Gramps Ver.3.0 and just go out and pick up something simple for me to do a short review of for this weeks Sunday post.

Since I was thinking of doing a non-gunpla related kit so off to the Plamo shops I went and immediately I saw this the Mecha Colle No.11 U.N.C.F D-1 Set 2, a space battleship kit from the ongoing Space Battleship Yamato 2202 (or Star Blazers 2202) Anime. As I look at this kit, I thought to myself since I’m currently binging on this..why not give this kit a try? Plus since the ship designs in this anime are quite dope, I wouldn’t mind having this in the home base and displaying it with my other awesome Gunplas and plamos.

But I know that to some of you here, would be thinking ” why get the Dreadnaught-class kit why did I go with the star of the show? Well, even though the Yamato is a badass and all, but I honestly find that the mass production ships of the U.N.C.F Dreadnaught class to be more appealing than the Yamato itself.

Plus the Mecha Colle Yamato was….out of stock. haha.

But I admit, the only reason that I chose this kit is that I was taken by how the packaging for this Mecha Colle kit looked. The fact that they managed to feature two variants of this awesome ship was quite impressive by itself not to mention how awesome both of them looked here.

However, unlike the boxarts that we’ve seen from all the other Bandai kits that I have unboxed. This kit didn’t actually have a completely new and original art made especially for this kit. Bandai instead opted to take 2 scenes from the Anime and used it here for the U.N.C.F D-1 Mecha Colle kit’s Boxart. Which I admit was a bit of a disappointment for me to see here, since I wasn’t expecting Bandai to be lazy here. However, despite me saying that I do admit that they did use a pretty badass visual for the box art. Which doesn’t really make it be all that bad.

Another thing that I notice here is that there isn’t much in terms of lore here and all of them is untranslated. Which is another part about the kit here that I was a bit tad disappointed about since I was really looking forward to learning more about the U.N.C.F’s Dreadnaught Class Battleship. Regardless of the fact, it was still nice that they still take the time to include that with the box.

As I move on to the kits internal contents, I was really impressed by what I saw in the box. Why? Well because the runners come with individual parts that look insanely detailed, which I admit baffles me.

Why wouldn’t you be? Even with my previous experiences with Bandai’s Star Wars Vehicle Model Collection, I was honestly still impressed by how Bandai manages to cram this much insane detail on something this small and what’s more, not content by just have insanely detailed parts, Bandai even included waterslide decals for this particular kit.

Honestly, I was starting to really dig this line of kits better than the Bandai Star Wars Vehicle Model Collection line up. Unfortunately, they do share one common trait, when it comes down to the manual because just like the Star Wars Vehicle Collection line up, the Mecha Colle U.N.C.F D-1 kit as well comes with the ‘printed in the box’ manual.

But despite some of the setbacks that I encountered here, I still decided to go with this kit since it was looking to be quite a good value. For a set of two ships, paying RM 50 (USD $ 12.22) does feel like a bargain and just knowing that this is another kit that was handled by Bandai, that thought does make me feel quite confident with my purchase here.

So back to the homebase, I went, looking forward to all the quick awesome time that I would have with this kit. Plus since this was my first modern Space Battleship Yamato kit, I was really looking forward to building it and since it was a kit that really doesn’t really have a lot of parts to work with, I thought at the time that this would be a kit that wouldn’t take me a long time to complete..

But instead, it turns out that I was dead wrong because this kit turned out to be one of the most challenging kits that I have had to work on for A LONG TIME.

But at the same time, it was as well one of those challenging kits that I really had tons of fun with.

Let me explain why, here.

Even though the process of building this kit was mostly a simple, straightforward process. However, the parts for the Mecha Colle U.N.C.F D-1 kit was quite small, which, in turn, does make working on them to be quite an endeavor. The size of the parts isn’t the only thing that I was struggling with, the fact that some of the small parts were as well quite…..fragile makes handling the already quite small parts even harder, since you didn’t just have to be careful with all the small parts, you as well have to handle each individual parts with care, since one harsh move would break em.

Because of that, it really forces me to really take it slow with this kit. Which was unlike the experience I had when I worked on the previously mentioned Bandai’s Star Wars Vehicle Model Collection kit. Though both have an almost equal number of small parts, however, the parts for the Mecha Colle kit was alot harder to handle due to the way it was designed, compared to the Vehicle Collection’s parts which were so much more easier to handle.

As well with the fact that there were a lot of details on the individual parts to panel line made the process even slower than I would like. Why? Well, since I am “the panel line as I go” guy that is why. But I admit that I was having a blast spending the time to just panel line all the awesome details, to be honest. I as well realized that some of the U.N.C.F D-1 parts require some painting too…… which is understandable since this is a pretty small kit. But because there were so much here that needed to be painted, slows the process alot more then I was expecting.

But what really slows the whole process down is the fact that, because I underestimated the kit. I really didn’t get all the basic stuff that I would normally need to make it work, like for an instance, a proper working paintbrush and some masking tapes. I knew then as I worked on this kit, that there is no way that I would be able to do this fast and quick as I expected, and since I already set in doing a short review for this. I soldiered on and worked through the 2 grueling days on this…..using whatever I had along the process…

But despite all of that, it was really one of the best 2 days that I spent working on this awesome thing. There were really a lot of learning experiences that I experienced through working on this kit, and because I had to use whatever I had here to complete the kit I felt that was really pushing my painting skills to the limits of my abilities. For someone that is still in the path of learning the ways of the nippers, this was really the kit that really pushes me to become a better builder.

I honestly appreciate the fact that I was able to experience it here.

Plus since I was taking my time here I do feel like my efforts were rewarded. Because man, this might be one of the best looking small kits that I have ever owned to date. All the effort that I took to panel line, paint and clean the kit made the kit look stunning. Even though, yes I admit that there is still room for improvement here and there, but knowing that I was doing this with no proper tools for the job was honestly quite impressive for me.

What’s more for something this small, I was even more impressed with the fact that the kit had some articulation to it. Which means that you are able to rotate the Dreadnaught-class turrets around! Though, you can’t really elevate the guns since the guns on this kit were molded together with the turret. But I was still impressed with the fact that for something this small it still has something that could be articulated at all and since the kit as well comes with an awesome poseable stand, it gives you alot of freedom to pose the kit in any way that you want it to.

Overall, I have to say that this is really one small kit that I’m quite impressed with. Sold at a very decent price and was as well a fun challenging kit to work on, this is one kit that I recommend to you veteran builders and to those that are looking for some challenge. However, it is not a kit that I would recommend a total newbie or one that is just looking for something quick and fun to get. Since requires alot of work and patience for it to look at least decent.

You really are better off building something else.

With that ends the short review for the Mecha Colle No.11 U.N.C.F D-1 Set 2. What do you think of both the kit and the review for this Mecha Colle kit? Do you share the same thoughts with us or do you think that this kit could’ve been better?

After building this one, I’m starting to have a serious itch to get more Space Battleship Yamato kits and was already thinking of getting the 1/1000 scaled U.N.C.F D-1 Mars Absolute Defense set…..looking at how much fun that I have with this kit, I have a feeling that I would as well would be able to really enjoy my time with 1/1000 scaled kit!

Anyways, we will be back again this week more Let’s Talk Gunpla Segment on the coming Wednesday and we will be back as well on the coming Sunday with a new unboxing or review! So, do look forward to that!

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We hope by sharing our love and passion for gunplas here, it’ll inspire you to pick up the hobby or reignite your love for gunpla!

Anyways, we shall see all of you again next week, and we hope that you all have an awesome week and weekend ahead! Have an awesome Gunpla building time there as well and until next time!

Ciao!